Strong demand in eastern and southern Europe

Scania’s order bookings for trucks reached the highest level for a first quarter since 2007 thanks to the continued strong demand in Europe. The growth is increasingly coming from the eastern and southern parts of Europe, where the recovery from the crisis years has now gained momentum.

Order bookings for trucks in Europe remained strong during the first quarter of 2016 and reached the highest level in almost ten years. The replacement need, the oil price and access to financing means that European demand is still holding up well.

“It is great to see that the southern parts of Europe have made a comeback from the crisis years and private consumption now has gained momentum, driving investments in vehicle fleets,” says Scania’s President and CEO Henrik Henriksson.

Scania’s market share in Europe came in at a strong 17.4 percent for the first quarter of 2016, a slight increase compared to last year.

“During the tougher years, we concentrated on strengthening our sales organisation and on entering new segments, in countries such as Spain, France, Portugal and Italy amongst others. We are now seeing the positive results of this,” says Henriksson.

Another shining star in Europe is Poland. In just a few years, Poland’s total market for heavy trucks has grown dramatically and is now the fourth largest in Europe. Scania has managed to capture a large part of that growth and is today leading make with a market share of almost 22 percent.

“For some years Poland has benefitted from increasing local establishment of manufacturing and logistics companies. In addition, major infrastructural investments have been completed, which makes Poland an important market for Scania. In addition to this, Scania’s products and service offering enjoy strong credibility in Poland,” says Bengt Thorsson, Senior Vice President and Executive Regional Director, European Region.

The demand situation in Eurasia improved slightly during the first quarter of 2016 thanks to Russia. Asia also improved somewhat due to an upturn in the Middle East while demand in Latin America was still very weak because of Brazil. Scania’s total order bookings amounted to 19,363 (18,311) trucks during the first quarter of 2016.